Letters
to Pam
Hey Pam,
I got to go to the Dance. It was super fun because most of my friends
were there and my teachers all dressed up as Star Wars Characters.
It was pretty fun. Imagine if I could have taken Rocky with me.
He would've been a real Party Animal.
Rocky is doing ok. My mom says now he will never be the same again.
She says he's ruined. I still love him. Me and Rocky have been trying
to race as much as possible before the first snow comes. He is 1
speedy demon.
My friend Emily had a horse named Rocky too. Actually she got her
Rocky before I got mine. For the past few months her Rocky has had
some knee problems. Also he has become extremely skinny. He was
34 or 35. Me and Emily both knew he was not going to make it to
the end of winter. She was going to try and get a new horse before
he had to be put down. She hasn't had any luck and unfortunately
her Rocky ran out of time today. She said he had to be put down
today. She also mentioned that he was getting worse. She didn't
seem to mind much. I mean she wasn't happy but she wasn't crying
her eyes out either. I feel kinda bad. Our Rocky's never did get
to meet each other. I'm sure she will find a horse soon.
On the brighter side I will now keep my word from last week and
tell you about Myrtle the bus driver. Myrtle has been driving the
bus for over 30 years. She is very fat. So fat that she has to turn
sideways to walk down the isle. Me and my friends swear she eats
at McDonalds every night. I don't mean to be mean but she is losing
it. She pulled over the bus on a field trip to yell at us and tell
us the bus rules. Did I mention these were 5th and 6th graders.
If that wasn't enough she always hits the curb when we go up our
street. Nobody likes her and once again I don't mean to be rude
or anything but she should just retire and sit on her comfy chair
and eat McDonalds and watch soap operas. I have to put up with her
everyday and I hate it. I would rather ride Rocky to school. Oh
Well, Rocky says Hi, he also says that racing is fun. Give Lightning
a carrot ok. She's getting a carrot because all those cookies will
make her fat and she should watch her figure like a lady.
Ur number 1 fan,
Gabbyand
Rocky
Dear Gabby
Congrats on getting
to go to the dance! Did you get help from a tutor with math and social
studies? It's really important to study now because my mom tells me
every year what you have to learn gets harder.
Then your letter made me sad. Your Rocky having the heaves is hard.
I am glad you can still ride him. Give him a hug for me.
Then I read the part about your friend's Rocky and I got really sad.
It is so hard when a horse hurts too much to keep them going. My dad
says that sometimes putting a horse down is a kindness. It is still
so hard. I love all ponies and horses. I wish they could live forever.
Your bus driver story was really funny. It made me laugh but also
to think about someone who drove school bus their whole life. She
was probably driving the school bus when your mom was going to school!
That's a long time.
Maybe Myrtle doesn't like driving the school bus but she keeps doing
it because she doesn't have enough money to retire. Some people do
jobs they don't like because they need to keep working just to live.
Did you ever ask her why she drives school bus instead of doing something
else? That might be a good story.
Friends,
PS, Lightning got a carrot and I told her it was from you. She also
got a couple of cookies. I told her they were from me. I asked my
mom and she said I ride so much cookies are good to help keep her
weight up. Thanks for asking.
_______
Dear
Pam,
My name is Alyssa. I am 8 years old. I do not have my own horse
yet, but I go riding on my cousin's horse every weekend. The horse's
name is Charlie. I have been riding for 1 year now. I really want
to have my own horse.
I love reading the Pony Pals books. I have 8 of them already.
I really like reading about you and your friends, and can hardly
wait for your online game. Please write to me to let me know you
got this.
Thank you
Alyssa
Dear Alyssa
It's great you get to ride sometimes. Tell me more about Charlie.
What kind of horse is he? What color is he? My mom said you should
try the game, you can go to it on the website now.
Write back,
_________
Hello
There Pam.
My name is Jenna.
I love you're horse Lightning. I love riding. I have two
best friends called Naomi and Christine who love riding too.
We all wish we had horses. I write stories about us riding with
our own horses. Naomi's horse is a grey mare called Missi who likes
making friends. Christine's is a black mare called Blackberry who
is very gentle. And my horse is named Jazz. (short for Jasmine).
She loves apples and going for rides along the beach. Hope you like
the sound of these ponies! :-)
your pony pal :-)
Jenna
Dear Jenna
Your ponies and
stories sound great! Please send me one, it would be so fun to read
about you and your Pony Pals.
We went trick or treating on our ponies on Halloween. We went early,
just when it was getting dark so it was safer. All our costumes were
cute. I was Cleopatra. I got to dress up in a sparkly dress over my
riding clothes. Mom put a special headband on my velvet show helmet
and I got lots of eyeliner and sparkly eyeshadow. When I went out
to saddle up Lighting she wasn't sure about who I was!
Anna was really warm as a Shetland Island princess, with fuzzy sweaters
and a scarf and she brushed Acorn until he was really fuzzy too.
Lulu's costume was really cool. Her grandmother let her wear an Indian
princess costume. It was really old and very beautiful. The costume
had lots of beads made out of porcupine quills. I knew about her costume.
But when Lulu riding up I couldn't believe it. Her hair was REALLY
LONG. She had two braids that reached almost down to the saddle! Lulu
said her grandmother did her hair and put extensions on to make it
longer. Her costume made her look really special.
We rode to the Quinn's house, over to Baxter's, then down to the Nelson
Farm then past Kennedy woods to Martin's fields, through town to Shapiro's
and Kline's and Thompson's house, then back across the town green
to Lulu and Anna's houses. We stopped there because it was getting
dark and all had some hot apple cider and grilled cheese sandwiches
with Grandma Sanders who really liked my Cleopatra costume. Then I
rode home on Pony Pal trail.
What was your Halloween like?
Friends,
_________
i
live in new zealand.i love lightning and acorn.i have lots of pony
pal books. i am 10 years of age.i don't ave a horse yet but i have
5 fish and a chinchilla Persian cat called alfie.my favourite breed
is the arabian horse and i love them shiny black??
olivia
Dear Olivia
It is so fun to get your letter from New Zealand! Is it really summer
there? It is cold here and all the leaves are falling. There are big
piles everywhere.
You can have a pony in our game. My mom is really happy that kids
are signing up for their own ponies, even though it is really small.
I asked my dad about chinchilla Persians and they are so pretty. He
said they are a special color and showed me some pictures. What kind
of fish do you have?
Arabian horses are really pretty. They are bred for endurance and
for looks. I like the black ones too, at Olson's there is one that
is so pretty but it's kinda wild and wants to run all the time.
Write back, let me know about what you do in New Zealand.
New Pony Pal friends,
_________
dear
pam
i would like to meet you and the pony pals someday i was wondering
were do you live. i hope you write back soon
love jordan
Dear Jordan
I live in Wiggins, CT. It is in the northeastern United States. It
is cold here in winter. One of my dad's friends says that we have
"9 months of winter and three months of poor sledding."
Dad says that is because his friend is from Florida.
That is just a joke, summer is nice here and there are lots of days
in winter that can be really fun to go outside. Lulu, Anna and I and
ride in the snow when it is cold out. The hardest part about that
is sometimes if the temperature is right pony hooves get filled with
snow and you have to get off to clean the snow out.
We get storms a lot all year, sometimes it rains, sometimes there
is hail, sometimes there is snow.
What is it like where you live? Write back,
_________
dear
pam
wat u been up to ?i hate being sick to. i found wiggins on a map
cool aye.please say hi to lightning and give her a hug thanks ok
see ya
from ponypal amy
Dear Pony Pal Amy
Being sick is no fun. I hope you are better now.
The internet makes it easy to find where places are. I'm glad you
found Wiggins. It is so small that sometimes it is hard to find on
a map. Did your map match the downtown map Anna drew? That's the one
in Jeanne Betancourt's books.
Lightning was glad to get a hug. Thanks for sending it,
__________
Dear
Pam, Please tell your dad that I said thanks for the advice. The
Fair was a lot of fun. Mom, my friend Katherien, and I went to a
Toby Mac and Jeremy Camp concert at the Fair. Have you ever heard
of them? It rained at the Fair, but it was worth it just to see
Toby Mac and Jeremy Camp. Now I have a cold. Glad ya'll had fun
at The Fall Festival. I'll talk to Mom about the low feed bucket
tomorrow. She's asleep right now. What's a low feed bucket? Friends,
Cayce
Dear Pony Pal Cayce
My mom always tells me "getting cold is a good way to get a cold."
Sorry you got sick.
Here's a picture of two low feed buckets, with help from the Wiggins
Volunteer Fire Department sheep dog Sandy, who was visiting our place
when I took the picture.
You can see that these are a lot lower. Maybe your Cimarron would
like them better than a tall bucket. My mom really likes the one on
the right, its what she uses to soak a hoof when one of our horses
gets an abscess.
Friends,
_______
Dear
Pam,
I'm Ellie. I'm in love with horses and ponies and I want to be a
vet when I grow up. My friend Verena and I are best friends, but
she rides western and I ride english. We want to be ponypals, but
we don't know to start.
How did you start?
Your friend Ellie!
P.S Can we be pen pals?
PPS Pam, its Ellie. I live in Colorado
Dear Pony Pen Pal
Ellie
Verena and you can be Pony Pals just where you are and how you are.
What kind of saddle you use doesn't mean anything about how well you
ride. My mom says there are bad and good riders. If you ride well
and care for ponies, you are a Pony Pal, whether you ride English
or Western.
Western saddles help if you have to move suddenly or chase cattle.
English saddles are better if you do serious jumping or dressage.
Mostly for riding trails it makes no difference.
What kind of riding do you and Verena do?
Your new Pony Pal,
PS I live in Connecticut.
